Apple Announces Shake 4

Apple today announced Shake 4, a major upgrade to the industrys leading compositing software used by independent artists and visual effects facilities to create the worlds most celebrated visual effects for film and television. Shake 4 features 3D multi-plane compositing, cutting-edge optical flow image processing and unprecedented integration with Final Cut Pro 5.

Artists can now composite live action and 3D CGI layers with added realism using Shakes new OpenGL accelerated 3D multi-plane compositing node. Seamlessly integrated into the node view, 3D compositing works with the same flexible user interface as every other operation and is as fast and high quality as 2D operations. Shake 4 presents an entirely new dimension by offering the ability to position, rotate and animate unlimited layers and cameras in 3D space.

As the worlds leading film and HD compositing software, Shake 4 is at the forefront of integrating the latest image processing algorithms and workflow advantages into a single, affordable visual effects package. Shake 4 features advanced optical flow technology that uses pixel-by-pixel image analysis to create smooth retiming and automatic stabilization. Editors and visual effects artists alike can now effortlessly adjust the speed of any clip to achieve Hollywood-quality results. Shake 4 can also revive unusable content by automatically removing camera jitter from static shots and correcting uneven pans across a scene without setting tracking points.

Shake 4 integrates Truelight monitor calibration to maintain color consistency between the computer screen and the final look of the film, allowing compositors to accurately pre-visualize the look of their HD or film imagery, saving time and effort. Shake 4 can also distribute visual effects processing across a cluster of Apples Xserve G5 servers or Power Mac G5 desktop computers for maximum rendering performance and efficiency.

Shake 4 completes the digital production pipeline as it tightly integrates with Apples Final Cut Studio, the ultimate HD video production suite which allows professional editors to work in any format from DV, SD, HD to film, and elevate production values with powerful editing tools, revolutionary sound design, real-time motion graphics and next generation DVD authoring. Shake 4 can now launch directly from the Final Cut Pro 5 timeline and using the XML interchange format, cuts and layers from the timeline automatically generate a Shake process tree.

Pricing & AvailabilityShake 4 for Mac OS X with unlimited render licenses will be available in June through the Apple Store (www.apple.com), Apples retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers, for a suggested retail price of $2,999 (US). The cross-platform version of Shake 4 will be available for a suggested retail price of $4,999 (US) through Apple Authorized Pro Film Resellers. The Shake 4 upgrade price is $999 (US). Full system requirements and more information on Shake 4 can be found at www.apple.com/shake.

About Apple Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh. Today, Apple continues to lead the industry in innovation with its award-winning desktop and notebook computers, OS X operating system, and iLife and professional applications. Apple is also spearheading the digital music revolution with its iPod portable music players and iTunes online music store.